ast, which must
be as carefully as possible scraped off the skin by using the edge of
the knife, guided by the thumb. Having done this, paint the neck only
with the preservative, and lay the skin on the paper, back upward and
tail from you; the under part of the head in this position points
upward.

Place the thumbs of both hands, their nails touching each other, at
the back of the head with the first two fingers of each hand placed in
this wise: forefingers along the side of the face, second fingers
underneath on the top of the skin of the head; then, by gently pushing
with the thumbs and pulling or scratching, as it were, with the other
fingers, gradually force the head through until the mandibles appear,
as also the eyelids. Let go with the right hand, still keeping the
thumb of the left pressing against the head; and, by gently working
with the two first fingers of the left hand outside the feathers, and
by pulling the beak upward and toward you with the right, the bird is
returned to the position shown in Fig. 22.

As the bird now lies, it is optional whether the flesh is cleaned away
from the root of the tail first or from the legs and wings. I will,
however, in this case take the wing on my right. Place the right hand
underneath, lift the wing as far up into the skin as possible, and by
holding it tightly in that position with the finger and thumb of the
left hand, a ridge of skin becomes visible, running down each side,
and framing in, as it were, a little oval-shaped piece of flesh, i.e.
that lying between the "radius" and "ulna" The broken bone and flesh
of the wing is now toward you. Clean the flesh away from this and then
devote the attention to the before-named oval-shaped piece of flesh.
Putting the point of the knife down on the right, lift and scoop away
(using the greatest care meanwhile) some small pieces of flesh. This
by degrees reveals the top of another little bone, from under which
all the flesh to be seen must be scraped away; anoint this freely with
the preservative, and return it to its normal position after tying a
small piece of strong thread through the loop of the bone (in large
birds a little tow should be placed in the cavity).

If this process is too tedious, or not quite comprehended by the
amateur--i.e. the clearing out of the flesh between the radius and
ulna--the smaller bone of the two--the radius (F, Plate II) may be
twisted or cut out entirely, leaving only the larger bone of t